Safety-stirrup.



J. KENYON.

SAFETY STIRRUP. APPLICATION FILED MAY?, 1913.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

JABEZ KENYON, OF HUGO, COLORADO.

SAFETY-STIRRUP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed May 7, 1913. Serial No. 766,142.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that l2, Janna KENYON, a citizen of the United States, residing` at Ylingo7 in the county of Lincoln and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful improvements in Safety-Stirrups, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to a safety stirrup for use on riding saddles, the primary object being to provide a stirrup which is adapted to release the foot of the rider without fail in the event that he is thrown from the saddle by his mount.

A, further object of the invention is to provide a stirrup including a cross bar adapted to be secured to the stirrup stra-p and a stirrup body including pivoted side portions whose upper ends are detachably secured to the cross bar, together with yieldable means provided upon the cross bar for locking the ends of the stirrup portions in applied position to the same, whereby lateral pressure upon either side portion of the stirrup body, such as would occur when the rider is thrown from the saddle, will cause instantaneous detachment of the said side portion, thus allowing the same to swing on its pivot and free the riders foot.

A still further object is the provision of a safety stirrup of the construction just described, wherein one of the stirrup sections will remain locked. to the cross bar when the other portion has become detached, so that 'the body of the stirrup will not become lost during such operation thereof.

The invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the stirrup, showing both body portions thereof connected with the cross bar; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing one of the body portions disconnected from the cross bar and swung into releasing position, the deflected `iosition of the inoperative securing member being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the stirrup as shown in Fig. l; and, Fig. iis a side elevation of the same.

lfn the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the cross bar of the stirrup which is provided with a horizontal slot 2 for the reception of the stirrup strap 3. This cross bar 1 is provided at each end with a rectangular projection L and has its corresponding end face beveled upwardly and inwardly therefrom as at 5.

The body of the stirrup consists of a pair of side portions G and 7 which have the tread portions 8 and 9 respectively thereof pivotally connected by means of the pivot pin 10. At this point of pivotal connection, the tread portion 9 of the stirrup body portion 7 is bifurcated so as to form the parallel lingers l1, and the tread portion S of the other body portion of the stirrup is cut away at either side to provide a single finger 12 disposed between the `fingers 11 of the lirst body portion, the fingers of both portions beiug inedially provided with apertured lugs 13 for the reception of the previously described pivot pin 10. The extremity of each of the said lingers is beveled dmvnwardly and inwardly as at l-l to provide an active face for engagement with an upwardly and inwardly inclined face 15 provided upon the other body portion of the stirrup. The upper end 16 of each stirrup body portion provided with a rectangular opening 17 for the reception of the projection 4 upon the adjacent end of the cross bar 11 and is further provided with an upwardly and inwardly inclined eXtension 18 adapted to bear against the inclined end face of the cross bar, a beveled outer face 19 being provided by this extension 1S for a purpose which will be presently described. A resilient locking member 20, substantially in the form of a flat, elongated spring is disposed upon the top face Q1 of the cross bar 1 and is medially connected thereto by means of the screw 9.2.

An engaging head 23 is formed integrally upon each end of the locking member so as to project past the adjacent end of the cross bar and is provided with an upwardly and inwardly inclined inner face 24E for engagement with the correspondingly inclined face 19- of the correspondingstirrup body portion extension 18. The engaging heads of the looking member 2O are thus adapted normally to maintain the upper ends of the respective stirrup body portions operatively connected with the cross bar 1, so that the riders foot will be supported eifectively by the tread portion of the stirrup body at all times when subjected to the ordinary conditions of use, the pressure of the riders foot upon the fingers provided at the point of pivotal connection between the body portions aiding in preventing the body portions from becoming disconnected with the cross bar.

In case the rider should be thrown from the saddle by his mount, his feet will cause certain side portions of the bodies of the stirrups to be forced laterally, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, whereupon the corresponding extensions 18 of the said body por tions will wedge the engaging heads 23 of the respective locking members upwardly into releasing position thus releasing the said side portions and allowing the same to swing laterally upon their pivots. The riders feet will thus be released, and he will fall to the ground without danger of the dragging ordinarily the result of being thrown when the stirrups are not adapted to release the riders feet.

F rom the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it should be apparent that I have provided a. simply constructed and durable stirru which has been designed to ill a long-telt want and which will efficiently aocomplish this purpose. It is to be understood, however, that minor changes in the details of construction may be resorted to in practice without departing from the scope of the invention.

Paving thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A stirrup of the class described comprising a cross bar, a projection formed on each end of the said bar, a stirrup body portion including side portions pivotally connected at their lower ends and provided in their upper ends with openings for the reception of the cross bar projections, and yieldable means provided upon the cross bar for locking engagement with the upper ends of said body portions.

2. A stirrup of the class described comprising a cross bar, a projection formed on each end of the said bar, a stirrup body portion including side portions pivotally connected at their lower ends and provided in their upper ends with openings for the reception of the cross bar projections, the upper end of each body portion being provided with a beveled outer face, and a locking member connected with the said cross bar and comprising a yieldable body, and an engaging head provided upon each end thereof and having a beveled inner face for engagement with the beveled face of the corresponding portion of the stirrup,

3. A stirrup of the class described comprising a cross bar, a projection formed upon each end of the said bar, a stirrup body comprising side portions pivotally connected at their lower ends and provided in their upper ends with openings for the reception of the cross bar projections, the upper end of each body portion being provided with a beveled outer face, the upper face of the cross bar being provided medially with a transverse groove and a locking member comprising an elongated resilient body eX- tending longitudinally upon the upper face of the cross bar, an enlargement formed medially upon the said body and being secured within the groove of the cross bar, and a depending head provided upon each end of the said body for locking engagement with the beveled end face of the corresponding stirrup portion.

In testimony whereof l aliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEO J. SoHRoEDER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

